Camden officer tells her story - and city's - to Oval Office audience

Growing up in East Camden, Virginia Matias wasn't allowed to ride her new bike around the block, or walk to the corner store. Her mother was robbed at gunpoint when Matias was in kindergarten, and when Matias was 17, her uncle was shot dead as he manned the cash register in his bodega.

Matias, now a 28-year-old Camden County police officer, doesn't think about any of that when she walks the streets of North Camden. She thinks about the children she sees coming out to play and the business owners who know her name and face, or how she can gain the trust of the city's most cynical residents.

On Tuesday, she got the chance to discuss those efforts with an unusual audience: President Obama and Vice President Biden, who hosted Matias and five other officers from around the country in a meeting in the Oval Office to discuss community policing strategies.

"I told them how I see more kids playing in the streets, having fun," she said. "That's how I measure change."

Matias and the other rank-and-file officers were nominated by the heads of their departments. The others traveled from Utah, Washington state, California, Maryland, and Indiana. They spent an hour telling stories about their lives and cities as Obama listened closely, Matias said.

When it came time for her to describe recent community efforts, like a reading program pairing young children with officers who read to them, the president nodded and said, "Good."

To Matias, a lifelong Camden resident, the moment was bigger than just her.

"Letting the president know my story, and Camden's story, is definitely a sign Camden is going the right way," she said. "I feel like there's a reason they chose us, that this is a stepping-stone to better things."

Matias paused, glancing for a moment out the window of the police vehicle that carried her home to New Jersey, and added, "I hope so."

The event was organized to enable Obama and Biden to discuss how communities and law enforcement can work hand in hand, and to hear firsthand perspectives from police officers in the field.

The agencies were selected in part based on their demonstrated experience in community policing, according to the White House.

Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said Matias embodies the spirit of Camden's still-new police force, one that seeks to work hard every day to rebuild the city.

"It's a proud day for the city of Camden and the progress we have made together," he said.

The past year saw Camden awash in high-profile news and, often, declarations by political leaders that the city was poised to move past its longtime status as the state's poorest and most violent.

Big corporations, lured by attractive state-approved tax incentives, announced plans to relocate there. Programs focused on the homeless and unemployed are expected to roll out this year.

The city's old police department was disbanded in favor of a county force, and Gov. Christie has touted a decrease in several categories of crime statistics over the last two years. Some community members have argued that crimes have dropped only by comparison with record highs. But many naysayers still acknowledge that the city feels quieter.

Matias is part of the force's neighborhoods response team.

On Tuesday morning, she left Camden before sunrise in the backseat of a police SUV driven by her supervisor, Capt. Gabriel Camacho. A few hours later, she was ushered into a meeting with members of the Department of Justice, who introduced her first to Sunny, one of the president's two dogs, who happened to stroll by, then ushered the group into the Oval Office.

She emerged all smiles, beaming. Obama seemed tall, she said; the office, smaller than she expected.

"This is the best day ever," she said.

Raised by parents who came from the Dominican Republic (and were recently sworn in as U.S. citizens), in a neighborhood filled with cousins, aunts, and uncles, Matias said she and her sister and brother grew up in a household where they never got piles of gifts on Christmas but never went hungry.

When Matias' uncle Miguel Espinal was shot and killed in 2003, he became the reason she decided to pursue police work.

"He was a hardworking man that provided for his family," she said. "He did not deserve what happened. And I wanted to be part of whatever change had to come."

Neither she nor her family ever considered leaving the city, she said.

After graduating from Camden Catholic High School, Matias worked her way through Rowan University, holding jobs at a bank and with Sprint before graduating with a degree in law and justice.

She graduated from the police academy in December 2013. The biggest shock upon hitting the street, she said, was the realization that many Camden residents don't see police officers as friends.

"I grew up looking up to police," she said. "That's something I really try to work with on the kids I meet."

Like other officers, she is authorized to issue warnings or, if necessary, citations for minor infractions, such as driving without wearing a seat belt.

"People get upset about that, because I think it used to be a free-for-all here," she said. "They'll say, 'This is Camden - you're going to ticket me for that? Don't you have better things to do?' People think they can do whatever they want, because that's how it always was.

"I always tell them, 'We have to worry about your safety. Right now, my main concern is you.' "